Rotary engine.



PATBNTED APR. 10, 1906.`

G. C. STEALBY. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED Mmm, 190s.

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No. 817,679. PATENTED APR.10, 1906. G. G. STEALEY.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.21, 1903.

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W] TNESSES:

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PATENTED APR. 10, 1906. G. C. STEALEY.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIUATION FILED 111.13.21, 190s.

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-mira PATENTED APR. 10, 1906.

G. C. STEALEY. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MA311, 190s.

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No. 817,679. PATENTED APR. 1U, 19,06.

G. G. STEALEY.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.21, 1903.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

WITNESSES 71,4107 4(A7 7 NVENTOR.

.4' ,/u www *i UNIE STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 1o, 190e.

Application filed March 2lJ 1903. Serial No. 148,962.

.T0 @ZZ whom, it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE CLAY STEALEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; andI do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

`s engine is designed to be worked by the force inherent in steam or anyother gas. Throughout this specification and the claims for brevity theword steam will be used instead of the words "steam or gas, and it ishere intended to mean either.

In the drawings, Figure l is a sectional view on the line A B of Fig. 2.Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line C D of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detailview of the ram and a portion of the steam-space. Fig. 4 is a plan ofFig. 3. Fig. 5 is an end view of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a perspective of theram. Fig. 7 is a detail of a portion of the cam and descending guides.Fig. S is a plan of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a side view of the engine Fig. 10,an end view of the same and Fig. l1 is a diagrammatic view showing theoutline of the wheel and its peripheral cam for a cut-off atthree-eighths of a revolution, the ram-block, and inlet-port andsteam-space; and Fig. l2 shows arrangement of wheels for reversing.

The object of my invention is to use the force of impact of the currentand expansion of the body of steam by receiving the said forces on theplane surface of a projection fixed on the periphery of a wheelconstituting a piston, which wheel is inclosed in a steamtight case O,as shown on accompanying drawings. Said projection is here named theimpact-face and lettered IF and may be the end of the cam hereinaftermentioned or a steel block set into the same, and back of the same ateach side are the descending guides DG. This object is attained byinterposing a block once at each revolution of the wheel, which preventsthe steam from moving or escaping in a backward direction or in adirection reverse from that of the current of the steam at theinlet-port. The said block interposed is here named the ram-block andlettered RB, and the said inlet is here j moving from the boiler ornamed the inlet-port and lettered IP. The said ram-block is moved andactuated and is of a piece with the mass of metal through which theinlet-port is made, (shown at IP,) through which the steam passes insteam-chest to the steam-space SS. Said mass of metal is here named theram and lettered on the drawings herewith R. The ram includes andconsists of the axis A, the ramtube RT, and the ramblock RB, all in onepiece, and has the passage named the inlet port IP passing through it,as shown on drawings herewith. The said ram terminates on its upper endor the end entering the steamchest in the aforementioned tube RT, whichmoves in and out through a packing-box pb, designed to prevent theescape of steam or gas at the contact or joint of its outer surface withthe orifice in the wall of the steam-chest through which it passes. Saidtube is designed to be made of such a thickness that its cross-sectionwill form a concentric disk of sufficient area to when being pressedupon by the steam Within the said chest take sufficient force from thesaid ressure to move the tube outward from t e chest, moving with thetube the mass of said ram about its axis A, so that the ram block RBwill press close against the plane and smooth surface of thecircumference of the wheel W with such close contact that being properlypacked no steam can escape backward. The amount of this pressure isevidently possible of regulation by the proportioning of the thicknessof the said ram-tube RT or the area of the concentric disk of itscross-section and the length of the radius of the circular curve of saidtube to the length of the radius of the interposing block RB,(considered as leverarms around the axis A,) respectively. The pressureshould be sufficient to prevent the escape of steam, but not sufficientto act as a brake on the wheel.

The reaction of the steam after entering the steam-space SS against thesurface of the ramblock RB has no tendency to raise it from or press itagainst the surface of the wheel, as the lines of ressure are normal tothe circular curve of the blocks surface, and therefore pass through theaxis A. Hence the aXis A takes all the reactionary pressure, and theimpact-face receives all the working pressure, as it is the only surfaceexposed to the ressure of the steam that can move.

Tlle steam entering the steam-chest will IOO IOS

act as a constant spring to press outward the ram-tube and downward theram-block upon the wheel, and this action as a spring is recognized andtaken advantage of and claimed as a part of this invention, and it ishere claimed as an especial and economical fea- .ture of this enginethat it receives without waste and converts into power the force ofimpact of the moving body of the steam mechanically7 as is hereinafterdescribed. It is roper here to state that this power is so considerablethat it gives to this engine a peculiar value and that after this forceof impact is utilized the steam before escaping exerts its force ofexpansion against the impact-face for any length of stroke (percentageof revolution) predetermined. As an example, to make this value clear, aboiler evaporating fifteen tons of steam or water in six hoursg steam ata velocity of one thousand five hundred feet per secondhead due to thisvelocity-thirty-four thousand feet-(34,000 feet by 15 tons)four hundredand ten thousand feet tons in six hours-two million two hundred andeighty thousand feet pounds per minuteseventy horse-power, which thisengine would utilize and a cylinder engine would waste.

It is designed and intended that when the wheel is at that part of itsrevolution at which the ram-block RB pressure upon any part of itsperiphery which is a true circle, in contradistinction to that partwhich is a spiral, the throat of the steam-port shall be open to thefull flow of the steam, which may then, passing always in one forwarddirection, being guided by the curve of the periphery of the wheel andits case, come with, as nearly as friction and. condensation willpermit, its full initial force both of impact and expansion against thesaid impact-face,turning the wheel always in one direction with the fulllever-arm unvarying, and as the wheel is fixed to the shaft turning thesaid shaft without further expenditure of power for gearing or anyreverse motion or deadpoints of stroke in one continuous series ofrevolutions.

It is designed and intended that when the wheel has completedthree-fourths or any other fractional part of its revolution thedesigner of any particular wheel may predetermine the spiral projectionhere named the cam and lettered C on drawings herewith shall by slidingunder the ram-block RB raise it till the throat of the inlet-portbecomes completely closed by passing upward till it is covered by thesurface of the casing. The steam then in the steamspace SS acts byexpansion till the impact-face moves so far forward that the outlet orexhaust-vent EV becomes exposed and opens again and all back steam orgas escapes. Said vent is always o en except at the passage of the blocko the Cain on which is the impact-face,

leaving nothing behind the impact-face to resist the turning of thewheel but the pressure of the outside air at any time, makingcondensation unnecessary. This feature is claimed as a valuablecharacteristic of this engine and invention.

This engine is intended for both speed and economy at once or for speedonly or for economy only, the results being obtained by varying thecut-off and the size of the inlet-port. A large inlet-port and a longperiod of admission of steam before cutting offsay threefourths of therevolution of the wheel-will result in the highest speed, (five thousandor more revolutions per minute,) depending on the diameter of the wheel,being theoretically attainable,'while a short period of admission ofsteam-say one-tenth of the revolution of the wheel-aided by a smallinlet-port, will result in the greatest economy. This last cutoff can beobtained by increasing the radius of the periphery of the wheel by anamount equal to the depth of the inlet-port all around the circumferenceexcept, say, one-tenth of it immediately following the impact-face. Thisfeature of the cut-off is also here claimed as an invention. Y

It is recognized that there is a dead-point to this wheel when the camraises the ramblock to its highest point. Were the engine resting atthis point, it could not be started by steam. To obviate thisdifficulty, two similar wheels are put side by side on the same shaft,the impact-face 'of the one wheel being placed at the diametricallyopposite point of its circumference when fixed on the shaft to that onthe other wheel. The wheels can be placed on a shaft that is eithervertical or horizontal. Also for motor or traction engines orpropeller-shafts, where it is necessary to reverse when going at highspeeds, a wheel arranged on the same shaft to revolve in the oppositedirection will effect the reverse completely.

To recapitulate the valuable qualities of this engine: First, themaximum pressure of impact and expansion are exerted tangent to theperiphery of the wheel against the leverarm of the full radius of thewheel throughout its entire revolution; second, continuous motion in onedirection; third, possibility of high speed, governed only by thevelocity of steam and the applied load 3 fourth, the obviation of thenecessity for condensation, the vent being always open; fifth, theobviation of connecting-rods, dead-points, gearing.

IOC

Novel features of the invention are: the

steam-jet arranged tangent to the circumference of the wheel, strikingthe impact-face and getting the benefit of the full lever-arm of theradius throughout a revolution; the rain, consisting of the rain-tubewhich is acted on by the steam as a spring, and the ram-block, whichinterposes its mass to receive the reactionary thrust of the steam, andtheninlet port which is inelosed and governed by the 3. In an engine,the combination with a ram the open vent the cam and impact-face. rotarypiston having an impact-face, and its mong the uses for which thisinvention is cylinder, of a swinging member having an inintended are thefollowing: to turn the prolet-port for admission of steam into the cyl-5 peller-shaft of a ship; to turn the drive-wheels inder and providedwith a block to be period- 4o o a locomotive to turn the drive-wheels ofa lcally interposed in the cylinder to prevent shaft, horizontal orvertical, great or little tic pressure upon said member concentricmspeed or power. ally to the piston for moving the inlet-port 45 avingdescribed my invention and set and block into position, substantially asdeforth its merits, what l claim is` scribed.

In an engine, the combination with a e1.. In an engine, the combinationwith a piston-cylinder, and a rotary piston therein rotary piston havi gan impact-face and a pe- 15 having an impact-face, of a swinging memberaving a curved portion and formed with a 2o which the curved portion ofs 1d member eX- tends, whereby it may be acted on by the pressure agentfor moving said member into engagement with the piston, substantially asdescribed.

z 5 2. In an engine, the combination with a rotary piston having' animpact-face, and its cylinder, of a movable inlet-port for'ad'- missionof steam into the cylinder, a block movable with the inlet-port andadapted to 3o be interposed periodically in the cyiinder to preventbackward movement of the steam, in presence of two witnesses. and meansfor exerting an elastic pressure GEORGE CLAY STEALEY. on the inlet-portconcentrically to the piston Witnesses: to move the inlet-port and blockinto posi- F. K. BARBER,

3 5 tion, substantially as described. J. W. LOWER.

which the inlet-port extends, and a steamchest -into which the curvedextension of a swinging member projects and with which n testimonywhereof I av X my signature 65 ripheral cam, and its cylinder, of aswinging 5o ward movement of the steam, said member 55 the inlet-portcommunicates and in which 6o

